November 15th isn't just a monumental day for the Halo franchise, it's a huge day for Microsoft as well. In a gaming world now bursting at the seams with military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, it's easy to forget how important and influential the Halo series has been. If Halo: Combat Evolved didn't launch on the original Xbox ten years ago, we probably wouldn't have an Xbox 360 or even Xbox Live for that matter. First person shooters would likely still dominate on the PC and online gaming would be no where near as evolved and robust as it is today. Microsoft owes the success of the Xbox brand to Halo, as it paved the way for console shooters and online gaming.
To honor the ten year anniversary of the Halo franchise, we've compiled a list featuring our top ten moments from Halo's plethora of campaigns. When putting together this list, I was amazed at how many awesome moments there really are. What is a top ten list could have easily been a top 20 or even 30 for that matter.
10. Space Shooting (Halo: Reach) - Halo: Reach was Bungie's swan song, and they wanted to be sure they pulled out all the stops. By including a mission dedicated entirely to space combat was a risky move that ultimately payed off, providing a completely unique and fun detour from the otherwise pretty standard run-and-gun gameplay. The only issue I have with it is the fact that Bungie didn't do more with it. A multiplayer space shooter mode would be pretty sick…
9. "Monsters" (Halo Wars) - Halo Wars is without a doubt the black sheep of the Halo family. The game itself did quite a bit for real-time strategy games, successfully bringing a typically PC-only genre to consoles… sound familiar? Ensemble Studios did a bang-up job on the game, delivering a quality spin-off that expanded the Halo universe. The cutscenes within the game were certainly one of its biggest draws, and "Monsters" was the cream of the crop. Watching a team of Spartans go head-to-head with a group of Elites was pretty awesome. Plus, the Plasma Sword stab at the end was just plain epic.
8. The Arbiter (Halo 2) - Few will argue against the fact that Halo 2's campaign was the low point of the Halo franchise. With a sorely unsatisfying ending, the game left much to be desired. The game's opening however, was one moment that will always stay with me. After picking up the game at a midnight launch and taking it home to pop in my Xbox, I was floored by the game's opening. By providing an in depth look at the Elites, gamers were able to see the intergalactic war from the side of the enemy. Understanding the motivations of the enemy and the Arbiter's part in the overall plan added a lot to the franchise's lore.
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